MasterChef the toast of India

Christine D'Mello

Move over Brett Lee and Shane Warne. George and Gary are the new sizzling hot poster boys in India.

In the land of cricket and curries, MasterChef Australia, which was a ratings hit Down Under, has blazed a trail into the hearts of the Indian television audience - and it's through their stomachs.

It's a surprising phenomenon for India, which has a varied and rich cuisine of its own - plus more than 100 TV channels to choose from.

Matt Preston, one half of the judging duo on Network Ten's current spin-off MasterChef: The Professionals, attributes the success in India to the fabled Australian lifestyle.

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"I think in markets where there is an emerging middle class and where English isn't their primary language, it shows we have a beautiful lifestyle," Preston says.

"There are also some universal themes there. It's about family, the importance of sitting around a table, about the importance that Australia likes to be feeding people and it resonates in India as much as it resonates here."

Pradyuman Maheshwari editor-in-chief of MxMIndia, a media monitoring website, delves into the Indian psyche: "The (Australian) hosts are tough, but they aren't rude ... Indians typically don't like to be rubbished in public, and don't like people subjecting others to it ...

"MasterChef Australia is gentle. The star chefs are very, very popular here. There are emotions, there is some fun. All the ingredients that work here in India."

For the past three years the reality cooking contest has been served up in India on the STAR World channel, on the News Corporation-owned Star TV network. So far seasons two to four of MasterChef Australia have been aired, plus two seasons of Junior MasterChef and one of MasterChef All Stars.

"It does three million people a week there (in India), it's a monster," Preston says.

Rasika Tyagi, senior vice president, English programming of Star India, agrees: "Since the airing of season three the show has broken all the records in the 9pm slot and has become the No.1 show in the category. Besides that, MasterChef also led STAR World to No.1 (in the English news and infotainment and lifestyle genre) during the time it was on air."

Following the success of the Australian version, the network then decided to dish up an Indian version, and has aired two seasons of MasterChef India.

Now the network is aiming to air MasterChef Australia in India hot off Australian TV.

"Masterchef Australia is a raging success among urban Indians and the show connects to viewers across all age groups. From amateur foodies to viewers who love food to food critics we see the show being very popular," Tyagi says.

A spokesperson for Shine Australia, the company that produces the show for Network Ten, puts the show's popularity in India down to "great stories from a diverse and truly multicultural cast" and contestants "who all have a genuine love for cooking and food".

Preston and his fellow judges George Calombaris and Gary Mehigan got a first-hand taste of their popularity when they visited Mumbai. In town for a meet and greet for Junior MasterChef promotions, they were mobbed by foodie fans and got tons of press coverage.

The cravat-wearing Preston admits they have been stunned by the success of the show in India, saying: "None of us would have thought about it (when we started it).

"I went to India the year before last and the boys (Calombaris and Mehigan) went there last year and we both had the same experience.

"We felt like Johnny Depp, it was very freaky to a level that we haven't seen here.

"They (Calombaris and Mehigan) did a book signing and 3000 people turned up."

And the show throws the right ingredients into the mix for the target audience - urban India.

One of the fans of the show is Lysander D'Lima, a tech expert in Mumbai, who chanced upon the show and is now hooked.

"They were speaking about exotic ingredients that I had never heard of," he says.

"It was astonishing to see such everyday individuals preparing diverse dishes reflecting various cultures.

"As the heat built up, it was nice to see how the participants opened the emotional floodgates."

Another avid viewer is Suhas Shirname, a marketing manager in Mumbai, who has also felt the impact of the show.

"It's a professionally-made program - the first of its kind.

"My family won't let me watch the news. It's a real influence on the kids. My daughter would do something small like melting cocoa, adding a pinch of salt and pounding it into moulds to make chocolates."

When it comes to the three Aussie judges, Maheshwari says they are probably the most popular celebrities after India's cricketing and entertainment stars.

And of the contestants, he says: "If any of the winners of the shows were to come to India and set up stores, they would do fantastically."

To sum up the television phenomenon: "MasterChef Australia is reality plus food - a lethal combination in India," he says.

AAP

20 comments so far

This reinforces the fact that anything good has a universal appeal. Also, anything to do with the 'family and cooking' will always appeal to Indians. Add to that, the hosts are all gentlemen, which enhances the overall package!

Commenter

Indian

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January 31, 2013, 4:55PM

It has recently been discovered that three of the ingredients for curry: turmeric, garlic and ginger were used in Indus Valley (NW India and Pakistan) cooking 4,500 years ago. I love making curries from scratch - taught to me by Indian students I was at college with. Such a satisfying and tasty pastime - far more so than the sometimes boring confections of European and English cooking which while looking nice are often bland by comparison. I hope the popularity of MasterChef Australia doesn't turn Indians away from the delights of one of the world's great cuisines.

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StBob

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January 31, 2013, 5:55PM

StBob- you're a knob. I don't think thousands of years of culture for 1.5bn indians is going to be hijacked by the desire to cook a decent risotto.

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Mike

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The World

Date and time

January 31, 2013, 9:20PM

I love Indian food but to say European cooking is bland is a bit harsh. European flavours are more subtle and vary from region to region. As with Indian food it varies from regions and in some parts the taste can be more subtle or bland...

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B.S.

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February 01, 2013, 12:15AM

StBob, India like all parts of the world also benefited from the Colombian exchange. Chillis, potatoes, cashews and maize are some important ingredients in modern Indian cuisine. Food continues to evolve and the rise of globalisation along with multiculturalism throughout the world should in the long run be beneficial for all cuisines including India. Interestingly in many Indian metros you can find Chinese and Italian restaurants where the noodles and pizza have a typical Indian masala flavour.

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Gizza

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St. Ives

Date and time

February 01, 2013, 12:27AM

MikeYes risotto is an indian speciality 1.5bn of the blighters agonise every night about how to get it right.Go back to chops chips and peasBogan

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Marlon Brando

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February 01, 2013, 11:20AM

indeed, i live here in India and i follow this show almost regularly.

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Mehul

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Surat

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January 31, 2013, 8:19PM

Ha! What a remarkable story. Who would have thunk it? Well done everyone :)

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Wyn

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Earth

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January 31, 2013, 9:34PM

MasterChef hit on something the British version totally missed, co-operative competition removing the nastiness of Big Brother.

It was obvious from the very start when the contestants really balked at trying to vote each other out. Civilized Aussies just don't do that. You win fair and square but maintain your respect for your opponents. something we all aspire to as an ideal but don't always get in reality.

Guess the Indians also appreciate good sportsmanship, which means we have far more in common than we thought. Hopefully this will improve ties between our two countries, we sometimes take them for granted.

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Tim Balmer

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January 31, 2013, 11:08PM

It's a pleasant surprise to hear Master Chef is a top rater in India. It's Australia programs like this that shows us in a positive light and may dispel the racist tag we have in that country. I still would like to see us produce more tv programs/sitcoms and films other than reality cooking and dance shows, showing Australia as the multicultural country that we are.

Then maybe, just maybe we would have true pride in ourselves and not have the need to ask any visitor that comes here what they think of us. All Australians don't speak with the same accent, have the same skin tone, eat Vegemite or love cricket. It's high time the free to air networks recognise this as well as commercial advertising. Regardless to race children should be able to see people in media that look like them being Aussies and not Americans!

As things stand now, in years to come and when anyone looks back through television and film archives it will be as no ethnic- non white Aussies existed!